Uranus

--Uranus is the only planet whose moons are not named after characters from Greek and Roman mythology; instead, they are named after characters from the plays of William Shakespeare and Alexander Pope

--Uranus has 27 moons, the 5 largest of which are Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon

--Uranus was discovered by William Herschel in 1781

The atmosphere of Uranus is composed of 83% Hydrogen and 15% Helium with small amounts of water, ammonia, methane, and other hydrocarbons. Astronomers prefer to label it is an ice giant rather than a gas giant.Uranus has three layers: a rocky core, an icy mantle, and an outer gaseous layer.

News

This website accompanies the scale model of the solar system which starts outside Room 128 in the Petrie Science and Engineering building on the Keele Campus of York University (click for directions) and spirals up to the York University Observatory on the third floor of Petrie.

Credits

Website constructed by YSSSTP student Osato Idemudia in 2010, revamped by York Observatory student intern Visal Sok in 2013, and updated by high school student Shruthi Sailesh in 2015, under the supervision of Prof. Patrick Hall and Dr. Ali Rafiee.